Student Blog: Tech Wizzing Through Life

In a blog around this time last year, I’d written about my endeavors of being a part of an incredible cast in our university’s semesterly musical theatre cabaret. This year, in our final winter showcase, I am back on the team, this time as a crew member as it is our turn as student representatives to host these sorts of events. I say crew very vaguely because, as a group, we’ve had to take on multiple roles across the entire process.

As busy as it sounds, it has been a very full-on experience which has been incredibly insightful of how many hands it takes to run a show. No other event has given as many opportunities as this one. To list the few things we have had to do, running from the technical aspects of it to logistics, as a 5-person team, we have had to arrange venues, ticketing on our student union website, marketing, auditioning, directing, sound and lighting, and etc. These are the few that I could think of at the top of my head – and this is all entirely student-led. This has been a month and a half’s process, but as always, it feels like so little time has passed us and the showcase is already next Friday!

Our theme for this semester’s showcase is ‘Heroes & Villains’, with songs ranging from musical theatre to Disney channel. While I wasn’t in the audition room, knowing the voices in our cast, we all had the pleasure of casting the roles in group numbers. There were many visions going around the room, so many ideas at once.

Once casting was done, then came to delegating primary roles for everyone on the day itself. I have been put on tech with another student representative, and close friend of mine. Two representatives will be our hosts, as hero and villain, and another is on marketing across all our social media platforms, absolutely serving, which I may cheekily plug below!

While I have been more absorbed into tech, my tech buddy and I were asked to direct one of the numbers as well as a few solos so we didn’t have to wait until we were in the room to get working. We all were each given a chance to direct at least one piece! I have had a hand at directing before but never for an ensemble song, and the tricky part of this was bringing to life the vision within very limited time. A showcase only shows so much of the song without its story so having to work around that proved a task – not just for our number but across the others too, but it also granted us full creative liberty while remaining within the premises of the musicals.

I have been working at home for the showcase, concocting backing tracks, and communicating with the cast, so there is much to do still outside of the room. I have never been busier. I have become quite acquainted with Audacity to edit these tracks, so that’s a handy little thing I have now in my arsenal. And to cheekily bring up another event, I have also been put in charge of handling backing tracks in a little thing called ‘Jingle Bell Swing’ where a group of us from our cohort will be performing at our local Christmas market. Many more opportunities grabbed. As you can see, I intend to make the most of my final year.

Next week, we will be moving into tech, on Monday and Thursday in the venue to try and work out a full run. My tech buddy and I will have much to pick up and learn in time for the show as we have never actually had an opportunity like this to work hands-on with equipment. The most I have had was a personal followspot to operate, but that is an entirely different ballgame. We’ll have to be on our game if we’re to learn as quick as possible so we can design as we go along, but we will have a supervisor with us there, who is also a friend!

Having learnt to handle backing tracks and using Audacity during lockdown did wonders for me as a performer, and now as stage crew, it was lifesaving. I used to underestimate all these little things I picked up but I’m glad I can now see the importance in all that I do because I’ll never know when an opportunity makes itself known to me. Like with followspot operating too!

It’ll be a busy week (with Jingle Bell Swing on the side which I might talk in a future blog) and things will only get busier as we get closer to the end of this semester.

While writing this, I am also actively balancing emails and messages between the supervisors for our tech and discussion among the other student reps. The hustle never stops.

In the next blog, there’ll be much to say as there will have been both the showcase and Jingle Bell Swing, two very exciting things for the month. But thank you for joining me on this wild ride that follows me on my adventures beyond performing on this course!

And now the plug!

Follow our journey and check out what we do here at the University of Winchester as musical theatre students! There you will catch glimpses of numerous performances across all year groups (and past as well), see all the fun stuff we get up to in our lessons and hear updates of our upcoming shows. You might even get the chance to catch a show!

Instagram: @mt_uow

Tik Tok: @musicaltheatrewinchester

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